Loader for mounting grinding wheels

ABSTRACT

A device for assisting in the mounting or removing of a grinding wheel, the device having particular utility for assisting in the handling of larger and heavier grinding wheels during the changing of wheels on the larger kinds of automated production machinery and particularly on machines having wheel hub mounted wheel balancing means.

United States Patent Mrugala et al. [451 Oct. 10, 1972 [54] LOADER FOR MOUNTING GRINDING [56] References Cited WHEELS UNITED STATES PATENTS [72] mfifi fla s} 2,306,461 12/1942 Miller ..29/200 J Mass 2,396,452 3/1946 Widmark et al. ..29/200 J 3,107,459 10/1963 Backer ..51/169 [73] Assignee: The Warner & Swasey Company, 3,416,214 12/1968 Clark ..29/257 X Cleveland, Ohio Primary Examiner-Thomas H. Eager [22] 9 Attorney-Thomas L. Tarolli and Calvin G. Covell [21] Appl. No.: 71,003

Y a [57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl. ..29/200 D, 29/200 J, 29/200 P, A device for assisting in the mounting or removing of r 51/ 169 a grinding wheel, the device having particular utility [51] int. Cl. ..B23p 19/00 for assisting in the handling of larger and heavier [58] Field of Search ..29/200 J, 200 P, 200 A, 257, g ding Wheels during the changing of wheels on the larger kinds of automated production machinery and particularly on machines having wheel hub mounted wheel balancing means.

PA'TE'NTEDocr 10 m2 QM C Rz gALA RUCK INV RE ENRY THE v-'t a ATTORNEY LOADER FOR MOUNTING GRINDING WHEELS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART It is usual with conventional grinding machinery to mount a wheel on a wheel sleeve mounting in a tool room and balance the assembly. The wheel and sleeve assembly is then ready to be mounted on the wheel supporting end of the grinding wheel spindle.

The present construction provides a means for more rapidly removing a worn wheel and mounting a new wheel on a wheel sleeve supported in its normal operative position on the nose portion of a wheel spindle also supporting a wheel balancing device mounted over and projecting beyond the wheel sleeve.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The wheel mounting means takes the form of a rigid C shaped assembly, device or frame member that may receive a wheel on the bottom horizontal leg or lower arm of the C shaped frame member to be lifted and/or transported to or from the wheel sleeve on the end of a wheel spindle on a grinding machine. The C-shaped assembly can be lifted by a hoist connected to the upper or top horizontal arm over the center of gravity of the loaded device so the system is in balance when picked up. The lower arm of the C-shaped device is formed to an arcuate shape of the same radius as the hole'of the wheel to be transported so that a stable mounting of the wheel on the C-shaped device is accomplished. The C- shaped device may be easily moved into position adjacent the face of the wheel sleeve after the wheel flange has been removed, for fixed abutment to the wheel sleeve so that a wheel on the arcuate shaped lower arm or shelf of the transporter for example can he slid onto the wheel bearing surface of the wheel sleeve. With such a device a heavy wheel can be easily moved into position and mounted directly on a wheel sleeve carried on the machine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevation showing the wheel mounting and lifting assembly fitted in place next to a wheel sleeve in position to receive a wheel from the sleeve or to mount the wheel on the sleeve;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the device shown in FIG. 1 partly broken away on line 2-2 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 3 is a top plan view partly broken away showing a portion of the lower arm of the C-shaped wheel receiving means and illustrating a safety means to be used while carrying the wheel to and from the wheel sleeve assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT provided with a series of holes 12 for receiving a clevis bolt 13 adapted to be engaged by a hoist, the clevis being adjustable to any one of several positions horizontally along web I l so that the clevis can be positioned substantially over the center of gravity of the loaded C support whereby the system will be generally balanced when a grinding wheel is being transported on the hoist to or from thegrinding'machine.

The top arm I0 of the C-shaped structure is integrally connected at one end to a vertical post 15 of substantial length, that length being more than the distance between the periphery of the wheel hole to the outer periphery of the wheel so that the wheel to be transported will fit between the horizontal arms of the C. At its lower end the post 15 is integrally bonded to a rigid arcuately shaped shelf member, or lower arm 16 adapted to receive the grinding wheels to be transported. As seen in FIG. 1 the shelf, or lower arm 16 is approximately the same length as the arm 10 and as shown in FIG. 2, is connected to post 15 so that the ends of the are are turned downwardly. At approximately the uppermost portion of the shelf, or lower arm 16 a longitudinal bearing hole 20 is provided to receive the T-screw 21.

On one of the downwardly turned edges of the arcuate shelf, or lower arm at its free end, as best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, a lateral slot 29 is provided and longitudinally aligned bearing holes 30 and 31 are drilled into the shelf to rotatably support the shaft 32. The shaft 32 has a lug 33 pinned to it that may be positioned wholly within slot 29 as shown in full lines inFlG. 2, or may be rotated with'rod 32 to the dotted line position. A pin 34 may be fixed in shaft 32 for manual engagement with stop 35 to hold the lug 33 in either its position within slot 29 or projecting outwardly from the slot. The lug 33 may be raised out of the slot to prevent a wheel from sliding off the shelf, or lower arm 16 during transport and may be moved into slot 29 to be clear of the wheels center hole wall when a wheel is being moved onto or off of shelf, or lower arm 16.

This grinding wheel mounting device is particularly useful for the mounting of relatively large and heavier wheel means on production grinding machines having balancers built into the wheel mounting. Wheels are usually mounted singly on the wheel sleeve in such machines but in some instances a plurality of wheels may be mounted thereon side by side. The arcuate carrier shelf, or lower arm 16 is preferably selected to have a radius of curvature that matches the periphery of the respective holes in the wheels it carries so that the wheel is relatively immovably supported relative to the shelf, or lower arm oncethe wheel is slid into position and centered on the shelf, or lower arm 16 under the clevis 13. The shelf, or lower arm 16 is shown somewhat elongated so that a single or multiple wheel setup can be transported into position for mounting under the wheel guard 36. It is to be noted that the arcuate shape of shelf, or lower arm 16 not only serves to hold the wheel in place but also permits the loading means to be moved into the relatively restricted space available at the wheel station.

In use, the loading means is first positioned in front of a wheel sleeve 40 on a machine from which the wheel flange has been separated by removing threaded attachment bolts therefor so that a worn wheel may be carried away. The free end of shelf, or lower arm 16 is moved into abutment with the exposed face 41 of the wheel sleeve 40. The T-screw 21 is then turned to engage its threads in the threads in aperture 42 of the wheel sleeve, conveniently the hole for one of the wheel flange attachment bolts. When shelf, or lower arm 16 is drawn tightly into engagement with face 41 and is positioned adjacent the uppermost part of the wheel bearing, with its curvature aligned exactly with the bearing surface 43 on which the wheel is mounted on the wheel sleeve, the lug 33 is turned into slot 29 and the worn wheel on the wheel sleeve can be slid onto shelf, or lower arm 16. The wheel is moved onto the shelf to a position under clevis l3 and then lug 33 is turned up out of slot 29 to be projected above the upper surface of the face of shelf, or lower arm 16 to prevent the wheel from sliding off the shelf, or lower arm in the unlikely instance that the loader is unbalanced or is accidentally tipped during the wheel transportation step. Then T-screw 21 is removed from engagement with threads 42 so that the loader may be transported away from the wheel sleeve.

When the worn wheel has been removed and a new wheel has been placed on shelf 16, these manipulations are reversed to deliver the new wheel to the bearing surface 43 on wheel sleeve. After the wheel has been slid onto the wheel sleeve and the loader is removed, the wheel flange shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1 may be assembled on the outside of the wheel to tightly engage the wheel on the wheel sleeve and the machine is ready to start a balancing cycle to ready it for a grinding operation as is well known for example as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,107,459 and in copending application now U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,596 filed Apr. 28, I969.

It is apparent that a relatively simple and easily manipulated and completely stable mechanism is here provided for handling very heavy and yet delicate grinding wheel structures during a loading process whereby the relatively unwieldly wheels are easily and precisely lifted into position for mounting on the wheel sleeve that may be relatively permanently carried on a grinding machine wheel spindle. The loading means is locked to the wheel sleeve in alignment with it by T- screw 21 while transfer of a wheel load takes between shelf 16 and the wheel bearing surface on the wheel sleeve whereby to ensure proper loading.

While the above describes the preferred form of my invention, it is possible that modifications thereof may occur to those skilled in the art which will fall within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A loader for carrying large cylindrical grinding wheel means having a circular center hole therein to and from a wheel sleeve support mounted on a grinding machine comprising: a rigid C-frame member having vertically spaced apart aligned horizontal arms, one of said arms being adapted to co-operate with a hoist, the other of said arms being adapted to receive the wheel means to be transported, said wheel means receiving arm having an unconnected end and being of a length to at least reach lengthwise through the circular center hole of the grinding wheel means, a rigid vertical post connecting the ends of said arms to complete the C- shape, said post being of a length more than the distance from the periphery of the center hole to the outer periphery of t e cylindrical grmdmg wheel means, and means to lock the unconnected end of said wheel means receiving arm to the wheel sleeve on the machine during a wheel means changing operation so that the wheel means can be slid from one to the other of said wheel sleeve and wheel means receiving arm.

2. A loader as described in claim 1 wherein said wheel receiving arm has an arcuate shape formed to the same curvature as the radius of the circular center hole of the wheel means.

3. A loader as described in claim 2 wherein the arcuate shape wheel receiving arm is drilled lengthwise to have a longitudinal bearing hole therein, a rotatable shaft carried in said bearing hole, and threads on the end of said shaft to engage in a threaded aperture in said wheel sleeve whereby to provide said means to lock the wheel sleeve and wheel means receiving arm together during the wheel means changing operation.

4. The loader as described in claim 2 wherein said wheel means receiving arm has a lug that may be projected above the surface of the arm to preclude a wheel means sliding off the surface thereof during transport. 

1. A loader for carrying large cylindrical grinding wheel means having a circular center hole therein to and from a wheel sleeve support mounted on a grinding machine comprising: a rigid C-frame member having vertically spaced apart aligned horizontal arms, one of said arms being adapted to co-operate with a hoist, the other of said arms being adapted to receive the wheel means to be transported, said wheel means receiving arm having an unconnected end and being of a length to at least reach lengthwise through the circular center hole of the grinding wheel means, a rigid vertical post connecting the ends of said arms to complete the Cshape, said post being of a length more than the distance from the periphery of the center hole to the outer periphery of the cylindrical grinding wheel means, and means to lock the unconnected end of said wheel means receiving arm to the wheel sleeve on the machine during a wheel means changing operation so that the wheel means can be slid from one to the other of said wheel sleeve and wheel means receiving arm.
 2. A loader as described in claim 1 wherein said wheel receiving arm has an arcuate shape formed to the same curvature as the radius of the circular center hole of the wheel means.
 3. A loader as described in claim 2 wherein the arcuate shape wheel receiving arm is drilled lengthwise to have a longitudinal bearing hole therein, a rotatable shaft carried in said bearing hole, and threads on the end of said shaft to engage in a threaded aperture in said wheel sleeve whereby to provide said means to lock the wheel sleeve and wheel means receiving arm together during the wheel means changing operation.
 4. The loader as described in claim 2 wherein said wheel means receiving arm has a lug that may be projected above the surface of the arm to preclude a wheel means sliding off the surface thereof during transport. 